The Trickster

[manche]

I think that would be shame, if this great episode was not here.

It was interesting to see Rumina in a certain form of cooperation with the crew.

The nighmares were interesting, although it is interesting that Firouz had fear of fire. I was thinking that scientists usually work with fire. I assumed during the first watching that Sinbad's nightmare had a connection with his kidnapping by Rumina in the episode The Beast Within, but I found the better explanation for this situation on this website. But I am sure that the footage from this episode was used there.

Doubar and Maeve's nightmares were very scary. It would be horrible, if one of them was killed by the hand of the second.

The twist at the end of this episode was very interesting and very surprising. Sinbad is the clever man. ;D

And the last scene between Maeve and Sinbad was very nice.

[Doubar]

No way. I can't believe we didn't have that thread till now. O.o

The Trickster is one of the all time favourite eps! I just love everything about it. How Rumina is forced to work together with the crew and how she becomes so wonderfully human as a character in the process. I mean, for the first (and sadly enough last time) ever we see the person Rumina, and not just the evil sorceress. I think, that was the ep when she became my personal favourite baddy ever. ;D

Oh, and the whole plot was interesting, too, though it seemed a little forced at first - what with the deserted island and those weird God-like shadows... but when the explanation came, I just loved it how pointless everything was indeed. ;D

Aye, I, too, have wondered often about why Firouz was actually afraid of fire. I mean, it does strike the viewer as an odd thing, doesn't it? He's a scientist and he invented exploding sticks so how does that go together with fearing the flames? I can only imagine an incident during his childhood to be the cause... hum... that actually makes a good topic for a fanfic... *ponders, ponders*
Anyhow. True that, Maeve's and Doubar's visions were rather scary. And the thought that they had almost killed each other...

but I found the better explanation for this situation on this website. But I am sure, that the footage from this episode was used there.

Yay, I'm glad you found some useful information here. And you're definitely right about the footage! Those were exactly the same scenes in both "The Beast Within" and "The Trickster". Well, talk about saving money... x)

The twist at the end of this episode was very interesting and very suprising. Sinbad is a clever man. ;D

Aye, true that. ;D ;D

And the last scene between Maeve and Sinbad was very nice.

And again, agreed. It's wonderful moment which shows that Sinbad really does care, but also knows when to leave her alone.

[manche]

The same situation was with the nightmare of Rongar, there were also used the old footages from Conundrum.

In connection with exploding sticks the Firouz's fear looked really weird. But his monologue by the rope... the typical Firouz.

And the showing of the Rumina's human side was very well done.

And one interesting note: Doubar did not really hurry with his attack at Fortazza, did he? It was nice of him to give Maeve time for talking with "Rumina"

[Doubar]

Really, was there? Oh right, it was the scene with the invisible ninja-assassins, right? Yeah, well, sometimes it's rather obvious that the budget was limited, eh? x)

Hah, but Firouz' monologue indeed was fabulous. Loved that so much. It was 100% him. ;D

Doubar did not really hurry with his attack at Fortazza, did he? It was nice of him to give Maeve time for talking with "Rumina"

Very well observed indeed. Both were first circling one another mainly before really getting engaged into the fight.

[manche]

This could be also the intention. We saw the talk Doubar with "Fortazza" at first and after that we saw the talk Maeve with "Rumina". It could happen at the same time but for better explanation were those conversations carried out separately. Maeve must have been suprised by Rumina's strength.

And for the rest of the crew it must have been the big shock. They also had the nightmares, but this was worse. I thought, what they would have done, if they had arrived too late and had found one of them dead.

[manche]

Maybe It would be interesting to extend the Doubar's bio about his encounter with Fortazza. It must have been the very important thing for Doubar, when he still had fear of him after 10 years.

[Doubar]

Yeah, I guess it really has to be considered that things happened simultaneously and that they just had to be arranged that way because... well, they couldn't show the respective POVs at exactly the same time.

Considering the rest of the crew: Holy Cow. I don't even want to think about the possibility of one of them having been killed. This could have well ripped the crew apart I guess, for I'm not sure if the surviving member could have been able to live with the guilt at all. Not to mention the situation the others would find themselves in: one of their friends having killed the other, although technically they're not to blame because they were under a spell but still... how would you deal with something like that? Luckily, the show never went there.

Maybe It would be interesting to extend Doubar's bio about his encounter with Fortazza. It must have been the very important thing for Doubar, when he still had afraid from him after 10 years.

Hum, I must admit I never really considered adding that. Because while it seemed that even after all this time Doubar still held many unpleasant feelings towards that guy, it didn't strike me as that important for his personal development. I never spent too much time thinking on this matter, but somehow I halfway assumed that at some point Doubar - for whatever reason there was - helped catching that murderer, or at least tried to do so. As he said, Fortazza was a murderer of women and children, very cruel obviously but somehow I never thought there was more to this than that. Doubar always struck me as someone who cares and fends for the weak so I guessed that was his reason for getting involved. However, of course one could also spin a super important and tragic story from what little we're given - starting at that Doubar knew one of the victims (which could well be) and ending with something almost over top like that Doubar had a family once and that Fortazza killed them (highly unlikely, but it could be done).
In any case apart from the moment in which Doubar was under the spell, he didn't seem much affected. The fake meeting with Fortazza didn't really seem to weigh on him so that's why I always thought that the case was closed for him.

But I will keep this in the back of my mind. It may be a nice thing to add, I only have to make up my mind about whether it's important enough for his personal development as a character as that it should be mentioned in the bio. But thanx for the suggestion anyway!

[manche]

You are probably right that for Doubar was Fortazza only an unpleasant memory in this time.

I would want to know, why Rongar had the biggest fear from the wind-warriors from Conundrum. The crew had met a lot of demonic creatures until this time, so why the warriors? Why not Vorgon for example? (He almost caused his death... he almost caused the death of whole crew). I think, that this situation was the most dangerous in the whole season, maybe more that their encouters with Rumina.

The nightmares of Doubar and Maeve were the most dangerous from a simple reason. The rest of the crew had also met their biggest fear, but their enemy was imaginary in these cases. Sinbad could not drown, Firouz could not burn to death. But Doubar and Maeve had a real enemy against them.

And the final scene with revelation of hoods of old men was unforgettable. It was a little strange, that nobody, with the exception of Sinbad, did not notice the exactly same movements of the old men. Firouz maybe sensed something, but the rest of the crew certainly not. But It was great done.

And the scene, when Sinbad tried to stop Maeve in her attack at Rumina was nice.

And one question: the crab at the beginning it was the work of Rumina or the Trickster? It could not be the fear of Maeve, she has never seen this crab in the Ties That Bind.

[Doubar]

Yeah, I guess we will never really get to know just what Fortazza truly meant to Doubar. Maybe he was just the most evil villain he ever stumbled upon and the only reason why the Trickster conjured him was that he knew Fortazza would be the kind of person Doubar would kill in cold blood. At the same time though, it's also possible that there's more to the story, seeing that each of the crew was confronted with their biggest fears and their deepest hate.

Now as for Rongar: I guess we might wish to ask our Rongar here 'caus she's spent quite a while playing him and thus has a rather good understanding of that character, but personally I could imagine the problem lies not with the nature of those creatures (i.e. being wind-warriors as they were) but with their skills. Rongar's an excellent warrior. He can almost foretell the moves his opponents are going to make, making his fighting often look more like a dance than a brutish brawl - if you know what I mean. He's usually in control of the situation, and can usually read his surroundings like hardly anyone else in the crew can. He relies much on his keen senses, but here - with these warriors - they are of only little use to him. He can't see them, can hardly hear them. When he notices them, they're already too close. So I guess what really frightens him is the prospect of having an enemy he could not make out, the prospect of being no match and not being able to rely on his senses anymore. Or at least, that's what I would see in this.

And true that, Maeve's and Doubar's nightmares were the most dangerous ones in that moment. Though I guess that the other nightmares could have killed, too, if nobody had yanked the "dreamer" back into reality. I think the underlying principle could well have been to scare the victims to death - literally. So, in a way, all of them were in real trouble while hallucinating. Still, indeed the first mate and the Celt were the only ones in real physical danger.

Ha, that final scene was awesome! Although I, too, always wondered why Doubar and Maeve just kept on fighting without sense or reason. But I guess both can be quite impulsive at times, which just showed off in that moment. In any case though I thought they all looked pretty awesome in their black capes, scowling at their real selves. ^^

As for the crab at the beginning: I really have no idea. It could easy be either of them. The Trickster could have conjured it to make sure no one leaves the island this easily, or Rumina could have sent it to finish Maeve. Although... it did explode, didn't it? The Trickster used illusions mainly... if the crab had been made by him he could have just made it seem immune to magic so I guess we can rule him out at last. Leaves us with Rumina or the incredible coincidence that a giant crab just so happened to live on this island. xP

[manche]

I did not have this idea about this situation, but it sounds very logically. Probably the intention was really to scared them to death literally. Also the explanation for fear of Rongar sounds very well.

It is interesting, that some of them were able to return into the reality without help of somebody (Rumina, Rongar) and the rest needed the help of others.

And the crab really exploded, it was not an illusion.

[Doubar]

Not sure whether it really was the primary intention. S1 was much more family friendly (hence the accussation of being too "Disney-ish") so most likely the Trickser just got a kick out of scaring people, accepting the possibility that they might just get hurt or even die in the process, but not really aiming at it.

Also the explanation for fear of Rongar sounds very good

Thanx. I'm glad it seems reasonable.

Hum, and true that. Rumina was able to run away from her nightmare, and Rongar even managed to end the hallucination himself. That's remarkable.

And the crab really exploded, it was not an illusion.

Yeah, well, so I guess it was either Rumina or just coincidence. x)

[manche]

And it was interesting to watch the fact, that the crew created their enemies alone after realizing the fact, how many fights they have experienced. Without their effort the Trickster would not have had the opportunity to complete his plan.

[Doubar]

True that. And I guess their experience is what made those enemies be such skilled ones.

[manche]

It is hard to fight with yourself.

And the nightmare of Rumina was the great move. She maybe felt loneliness in her life and she could have thought about the change in her life under certain circumstances.
Her old form was talking about shooing the people who were important for her and maybe she was important for them. I think that it was the reference to Sinbad. The men's part of the crew may have forgiven her if she really changed, but Maeve certainly not. Her nightmare is the proof.

And the shock of Doubar and Maeve at the fact, that they had tried to kill each other, was very well done. This fact could also affect their friendship badly. Fortunately, this does not happen.

[Doubar]

Indeed, fighting your inner demons is tough. Maybe even the toughest fight you can find yourself in.

And as for Rumina: yeah, it was a great move indeed. I just love how human this fear makes her be, because while everyone else was scared of something that could potentially endanger their lives, she was afraid of being alone. That shows us that there's more to the sorceress than what meets the eye - that there's still a human heart beating inside.

Last but not least concerning Maeve's and Doubar's shock: Very well spoken. That was very well done, and I, too, am glad it didn't affect their friendship at all. Though then again, since they didn't really face each other but saw someone else each, I think there was little risk of their friendship being damaged. A whole other issue would have been if one of the two had not been under a spell, and would have been faced with a furious friend (e.g. Maeve seeing Doubar for who he is while Doubar's hallucinating Fortazza).